i want season 7 to be the reverse of seasons 1-5 where instead of marinette trying and failing and chickening out of asking adrien out, it is instead the wacky hijinks of marinette trying and failing and chickening out and flubbing up her words trying to dump him
It's worth pointing out that during this era Kon wasn't actually Kryptonian, he was a human clone modified to resemble Superman as much as possible (this is why he was never treated as Supes' son), which does mean that he and Kal aren't blood related, so this a legitimate adoption into his family.
anyway, here's Kon's original "dad", Paul Westfield along his alternate timeline self, As you can see, he atributes to himself some of Kon's personality traits.
So Iāve seen your shipping charts, and in the fixed story Karkat would actualize himself, understand Blood, and as prophesied would be personably responsible for bringing the ātrueā ships into being, but how do you think he would actually do that? I can only imagine the shipping chart. It would be beautiful. Because I honestly canāt think of any other way to force these characters who would resist and push towards their crushes into the correct situation that directly involves Karkat, unless he uses his Knight powers to use the Blood aspect in such a way that like, pushes them more together or something? I just think itās much funnier that he brings everyone together into an emergency meeting or something and has a crazy pinboard behind him and raves about Serendipity for hours while trying to ship people and almost no one having it and either leaving or it becoming a huge shouting match while they occasionally reflect just a little or something. This thought just kinda came to me and if you havenāt thought of it before I NEEDED to inform you(I imagine you have but better to be on the safe side).
P. S. You are literally the best Homestuck Theorist(do you call yourself a theorist or something else?) and I will die on that hill
Yeah, this is basically what we've been imagining, hahaha. Karkat already has a propensity in canon itself for making shipping charts, remember?
(Plus the penis ouija originally began as an attempt by Karkat to once more tap onto his innate shipping magic.)
This is why I keep saying things like "everything in Homestuck turns into shipping" and "shipping is actually the most important thing in Homestuck" - the endgame ships are deeply tied to Karkat and Blood, and Blood is tied to the concept of fate. In a work like Homestuck, where free will is real and branching timelines exist, "fate" is more like the idea that there is actually a "best" outcome for people, in the sense of "living your best life". It contrasts Breath's freedom and especially how important "mistakes" are: you need to make mistakes in order to grow up. You need to try things you wouldn't normally try, you need to step out of your comfort zone, you need to cause problems and then deal with the consequences of your own actions. But the idea that, at the end of that journey of self-discovery, you can actually find the "right" path to walk for you - that's what Blood and fate are all about.
Karkat worries that Blood is an insanely weaksauce power, and I think that this "sleeper" nature of it is why: it doesn't, and can't, pop off until people are actually ready for it. Moreover, Karkat only measures power through the rules his society has imposed on him: he views strength in terms of personal power level, the ability to administer an asskicking. The thing is, he's always been an innately powerful Blood player, the same way Dave's always been an innately powerful Time player - who else but Karkat could've united that pack of bloodthirsty morons long enough to win a session of SGRUB? Who else but Karkat could've convinced them to connect with the humans through space and time purely to sate his own idiotic hatecrush on John? Karkat's power lies not within himself, but within his ability to - like destiny itself - move the people in his orbit. He's always had an uncanny romantic acumen, and when he isn't freaking his shit, he's also always been a very incisive and accurate judge of character. When he isn't so mad he turns stupid, he's incredibly empathetic and kind. People listen to him because, at the end of the day, he cares about all the jackasses on his team, and they can sense his love and compassion for them.
Breath is all about free will, independence, and youth. Blood, its yin-yang matched pair, is all about destiny, relationships, and maturity. It represents the forces that bind - our interpersonal relationships, platonic, familial, and romantic, but also our own relationship to ourselves, our innate proclivities and personalities, the things that would make us happy.
Karkat also speculates that Blood has something to do with an "undying warrior's spirit" he's always felt within him, and he's right: Blood is about holding on. It's about doggedly refusing to let go of hope and the idea that something beautiful is out there. It's about being willing to stick it out until you can reach a happy ending.
Sara: I first came in because of the name. Serendipity. Itās one of my favorite words.
Jonathan: It is? Why?
Sara: āCause itās such a nice sound for what it means: a fortunate accident. Except I donāt really believe in accidents. I think fateās behind everything.
Jonathan: Oh, you do? Fateās behind everything?
Sara: I think so.
Jonathan: Everythingās predestined? We donāt have any choice at all?
Sara: No, I think we make our own decisions. I just think that fate sends us little signs, and itās how we read the signs that determines whether weāre happy or not.
Ergo, Homestuck's concept of a happy ending is intrinsically tied to its romantic relationships, especially as those romantic relationships operate on an allegorical level. There's definitely criticisms to be made about how Homestuck doesn't really acknowledge aromantics and asexuality, but I'm not personally interested in making them; just know that, yeah, I acknowledge that Homestuck's assertion that romance is its end-all be-all can rub people the wrong way. But since my approach to analysis is to primarily engage the work on its own terms, Homestuck's romances are highly allegorical, and thus, proper configuration is basically a requirement for the true happy ending.
Not only that, but Hal becoming a Real Boy - itself a requirement for that true happy ending - is also fully contingent on the romance shit. Karkat places such cosmic significance on his black quad - and shit, dog, when it's a Blood player doing that, pay attention - that Hal's Realization is basically guaranteed to have something to do with Karkat finding true hate. After all, Karkat boasts that his hatred is powerful enough to hate a hole through reality into a fresh new one, free for the hating.
Perhaps as to be expected by the Romance Jesus of the team, but Karkat's quads are crazy. Calliope, a cherub, in red, the insane genocidal sea dweller prince guy in pale, and the magical white rabbit that was a computer that became Real in black. But I also don't think Karkat, who so idolizes the idea of soul mates, whirlwind romances, and the magic of true love, would have it any other way.
Anyways, in the book commentary, Hussie jokingly called my ilk "Homestuck scholars".
This collection in the ideal universe will serve as a set of handbooks for the Homestuck scholar, both providing illumination into the series, and containing it entirely, if also approximately. And for those of you who choose to possess the work for mere enjoyment, I hear you. I feel you. Let's you and me direct our combined enjoyment at the notion that there is such a thing as a Homestuck scholar. It's true. They are real.
Some people call themselves this unironically. You are free to call me one, but only if you are, bare minimum, lightly roasting me for it. At the end of the day, I am doing something pretty objectively cringe, and I'm happy to admit to that. If you told me face to face that what I'm doing is both embarrassing and a waste of time, I'd be like, "yeah". Not to disparage the other Homestuck Scholars, but let's be so real about what we are doing here.
So I stumbled upon an old meta and I was wondering about your opinion on this. Basically, it pointed out that the caliborn we follow in parts of act six references several events in that happened in the Game Over!timeline, but that happened differently in the retcon timeline. Even though him growing up at all on Earth C only happens because of/ in the retcon timeline. Here is the link if you are curious: https://www.tumblr.com/cruxitedowel/140956814848/artistcaliborn-doesnt-become-le
Idk if I just missed something obvious, but do you maybe know an explanation for this?
There's a pretty simple explanation for this! Okay, it's not simple, but there is an explanation for this.
So, first of all, just to clarify the timeline, Caliborn/Calliope are explicitly born on Earth C, billions of years in the future, in the post-retcon timeline.
WHAT'S THIS PLANET, I MEAN.
It was called Earth.
EARTH. THAT'S IT?
Yes.
Weren't all the Statues of Liberty a dead giveaway?
If you see one or more shitty old Statues of Liberty on any post-apocalyptic wasteland planet, that automatically means it was Earth all along, as a rule.
Then when you realize that, you're supposed to have a mental breakdown.
I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH THIS RULE. AND SKEPTICAL OF ITS VERACITY.
TELL ME MORE ABOUT EARTH.
It's the place humans are from. But that was a very long time ago, with respect to the planet's current age.
Earth has been through a lot. It was even relocated a couple times.
YES. I BROUGHT IT WITH ME, I THINK.
INTO THE GAME.
Yes. But it was relocated once even before that.
It was moved from its native solar system, where it circled around a little yellow sun.
Then it founds its way to a new system, around your big red sun. It stayed there for a good while, until your sun started dying.
WHY WOULD SOMEONE MOVE A PLANET.
Its universe was about to explode. So its proprietor closed up shop and got it the hell out of there.
So, at the very least, it is #confirmed that Caliborn/Calliope are from the post-retcon timeline.
This means that the actual plot of Homestuck is, in fact, one neat time loop. I have written about this in exhaustive detail before (see the first chapter of the giga-essay, this blog's pinned post, if you want the long version), but the short version is that tracing the actual chronology of the characters reveals that the canon ending is a "rocks fall, everyone dies" certified Bummer Ending. Every single character ends up trapped forever or dead of old age, thus fulfilling LE's win condition: destroying as much as he can for as long as he can. The kids claiming the Ultimate Reward is actually, explicitly, all according to keikaku (t/n keikaku means plan).
In order to understand this particular tangle, we need to consider a few things: John's retcon (Breath) powers, Aranea's Sylph of Light powers, and Caliborn's Lord of Time powers.
First of all, Caliborn's abilities as a Lord of Time are literally to just make reality do whatever he wants.
uu: I THINK PART OF MY PERSONAL QUEST. IS TO BECOME AT EASE WITH THE FORCES OF INEVITABILITY.
uu: INEVITABILITY THAT ALL THINGS SHOULD AND WILL FALL IN MY FAVOR. THAT ALL CAUSALITY ANSWERS TO ME. AND THAT ALL OUTCOMES NOT ONLY SERVE ME. BUT CONSIST OF MY BEING.
uu: SO I FEEL THAT. THE MORE I GROW IN POWER.
uu: THE MORE STUFF IT SHOULD TURN OUT I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR.
uu: UP TO AND INCLUDING. EVERYTHING THAT EVER HAPPENS.
Caliborn and Calliope take major inspiration from The Neverending Story; Lord powers map to the ability of the protagonist to bring whatever he tells a story about to life, to shape reality to his liking in every which way, even if it's a story about the past.
As part of his game session, Caliborn interacts with a series of terminals on his planet that give him access to any timeline and any event, irrespective of Void or Rage obfuscation. This functional omniscience thus allows him, and the souls that end up combined with him, to plot out a series of events that ties the stability of the timeline directly to LE's creation. Time, you see, only remains stable so long as every loop closes; any timeline with a broken loop is doomed and withers away into nothingness.
AG: Think of it like circulatory system, where the veins and capillaries that do not help the overall flow of 8lood through the system are likely to wither and die. Those are doomed offshoots.
This means that John's retcons are, in fact, explicitly factored in to Caliborn's planning. By challenging John in the end credits, taunting him into gathering the god tier humans for battle, which results in him getting himself sealed into Lil Cal, Caliborn kicks off a chain of events that results in Doc Scratch's arrival to Alternia in the distant past. By doing so, Caliborn functionally sandwiches all the events of the story into the time loop of LE's creation, ensuring that said creation definitely happens, and any attempt to avert this outcome automatically results in a doomed timeline. This is what Doc Scratch is referring to when he describes the alpha timeline as the one that boasts exclusive rights to both his birth and his death, and this is the true nature of Caliborn killing Hussie and "taking over the narrative". Remember, Lord English is ALREADY HERE.
This moment where I'm sort of pretending to be [Doc Scratch] [...] is just another leg in AH's long journey where he transitions from "the author as a limited, goofy, fallible human being" to "the author as a nefarious, destructive, non-human entity, which thrives in his absence, if not outright trying to kill/replace him, and itself has several different forms."
[...]
[T]he individual segments start making a lot more sense when you start reading them as installments of "the increasingly derelict, maniacal author is gradually phasing himself out of control over the story, and/or is BEING phased out of control over the story by dark forces beyond his control."
Caliborn takes over the "author"'s spot, and uses his virtual omniscience, his mastery and instinctive understanding of Time, and very clever plotting, to ensure the inevitability of his own creation, and, through that, the destruction of everything.
Now, what this means for John's Breath-based (freedom, independence) retcon powers is that the creation of the post-retcon timeline was always part of Caliborn's evil plan. Many people mistakenly believe the triumphant veneer of the canon ending, and therefore believe that John is heroically providing freedom from "the narrative" to the post-retcon cast via the retcon, but the literal opposite is true: the retcon actually reroutes the timeline such that it directly gives rise to Caliborn, and several hints point to this being the case.
First of all, it literally just gives rise to Caliborn - the post-retcon timeline is how Earth manages to make it to Universe C in order for Caliborn/Calliope to be born on it in the first place. Secondly, the Condesce explicitly has a form of immortality that only runs out when she's outlived her usefulness and LE revokes it. While there are potentially abilities that may be able to override this (the Princes come to mind), none of these abilities were used within her boss battle - meaning, LE had her die there on purpose, most likely as a ploy to trick the cast (and audience) into thinking that they had "won" and could let down their guards.
Third, John's mastery of his powers only comes about as a result of a deal with a denizen. I've written about it in more detail elsewhere, but once again, here's the short version: the denizens are based on the Gnostic demiurge, with one of the Big Deal Denizens named Yaldabaoth, after the actual demiurge himself. The demiurge's goal is to prevent mortal souls from realizing their own innate divinity and achieving true enlightenment, which would allow them to escape the confines of material, imperfect reality. As such, the fact that John's control over his retcon abilities comes about not via introspection and self-discovery, but from having a denizen arbitrate his path, means that anything he does with those powers can be understood to be from a place of ignorance, of non-enlightenment.
Calliope brings up the idea that a player who rejects their aspect - or who is, in my words, not doing particularly well at self-actualization - may end up displaying abilities that are the opposite of their aspect. For a particularly explosive example, Eridan's crashout is marked by blind fury and nihilism, both associated with Rage. As such, John in the canon ending winds up binding the cast to their fate, opposite Breath's independence. Ironically, the characters he provides independence to are actually the versions that have been retconned out - the (irrelevant) characters, like the version of Vriska that got groomed by Meenah. They are, explicitly, free from the binding force of the alpha timeline - but because nobody has reached enlightenment, especially not John, who made a deal with a demiurge, nobody realizes this about (them).
Now, what's really important about John's retcon is that the (irrelevants) still exist - while they are a doomed timeline, they're also kind of a secret third thing as well, not quite the same as a timeline cosigned to oblivion by the rules of Time, being a fundamental part of the alpha timeline to a much greater extent than, say, the doomed timeline that Davesprite came from.
This is perhaps a bit of a reach compared to everything else in the essay so far, but I'd like to posit that the Game Over timeline's significance is a direct result of Aranea's meddling. Light, as we know, governs the idea of "relevance" - screentime, the spotlight. Aranea, as a Sylph of Light, has the ability to grant that light in a positive direction unto other objects, usually in the form of healing an injury or supplementing a deficiency.
When she takes over the Game Over timeline, she explicitly invokes her Sylph abilities.
ARANEA: I am a very powerful Sylph of Light. I have had millions of sweeps to hone my a8ilities. ARANEA: As one gifted with the aspect of light, certain outcomes will 8e prone to 8r8king in my favor. ARANEA: And as an ancient, highly experienced sylph, I wield an unprecedented a8ility to heal. ARANEA: A doomed timeline is really just an anatomical feature of a much larger organism. Like a capillary which comes to an end, 8ecause it has withered and died. ARANEA: I 8elieve I will 8e a8le to heal this offshoot. ARANEA: And with enough time and patience, I am confident I can restore its vitality to such a gr8 extent, it will effectively take over as the alpha timeline, thus reducing English to a lost footnote of paradox space.
The truth is, she's got the right idea, but the wrong aspect. Unfortunately for her, Light does not hold any particular sway over causality - which sequence of events cascades towards certain outcomes. That would actually be the realm of Mind, though the significant of that is a whole other essay and this one's already long enough. However, though Aranea cannot heal the timeline's causality, she CAN buff its Light - as in, its relevance. Ultimately, I believe that this is why the Game Over timeline winds up being so incredibly instrumental to the alpha timeline, in spite of otherwise being like any other doomed offshoot: Aranea boosted its relevance, made it artificially significant, but was not able to override the karma (Mind) or the laws of Time that bound the alpha timeline to its ultimate result. Given Light players explicitly serve as beacons, it's also possible that Aranea's presence within this timeline contributed to Caliborn/Calliope being in contact with the Game Over iterations of the characters, when we see from the Davesprite timeline that cross-dimensional communication (in their case, human to troll) generally only works alpha-to-alpha.
In any case, all of this tied together is why Caliborn references Game Over stuff despite existing in the post-retcon timeline. He has mechanisms by which he has a sort of omniscience over all possible points in time, and the Game Over timeline has an artificially boosted level of relevance due to Aranea's interference (she does manage to make it part of the alpha timeline after all!), though it is ultimately still doomed.
What's really interesting to me, however, is that the (irrelevant) characters have seemingly been freed from the normal rules of spacetime, relevance, and karma. I wonder what that means for them?
I collaborated with the Human Artistry Project to make this strip alongside other web cartoonists to make the point that āStealing isnāt Innovationā when it comes to A.I. usage. It seems to be doing numbers on instagram and elsewhere, so you may also read it here, tumblr.
May the discourse that ensues be long and unhelpful.
